New Finals Schedule Benefits Students

Izzy, Josiah Fuentes and Cisco Garcia take a break as part of the new finals schedule.

It’s typically the week that every student dreads and hopes never comes…FINALS WEEK! However, this year LCHS has a new finals schedule that offers students more time to prep, snack, and hang out.

“[The schedule] gives us time to drink a coffee,” senior Cisco Garcia said, but that’s just one of several benefits. Garcia and friends “Izzy” and Josiah Fuentes also like the relaxed time to study, finish assignments and projects, and take care of business.

“It’s just a break, instead of a seven minute passing period,” Mr.Rimer Assistant Principal for Curriculum and Instruction said. The benefits to students are built into the longer blocks of time for each final, study time at the beginning of the day, and 15 minute snack break mid-morning. “It’s really just a time for people to hang out in the concourse, talk to your friends,” Rimer said.

Seniors with late arrival or early release especially benefit on Friday, when only 1st and 7th period take final exams. Rimer hopes on Friday “there will be fewer students and a less stressful environment.”

Teachers also benefit from having two hour blocks of time to administer a final, or assess student work and record grades during their prep period. “We don’t want to get in a situation where finals becomes a default loss week. We want those days to be meaningful. That’s why we have review on Monday and Tuesday, and Wednesday through Friday used for finals.” Teachers with AP subjects now have the time to administer both a multiple-choice and a constructed response assessment with a twenty-minute break in between, similar to those students will take for their AP scores.

Rimer also said the schedule is “portable,” allowing shifting class periods because of blocks of time that can move throughout the schedule. This will hopefully make planning for finals easier from year to year as students master the concept of the blocks of time instead of unique schedules with ever-changing time structures.

Overall, the new schedule is all about student success. Rimer said, “Gives flexibility for students to meet their needs.”